Here’s an adorably cool set of art called, “Star Wars Characters and Their Rides” created by fettup. The artist took the prints that he created and turned them into iPhone wallpaper that you can upload to your phone if you want. Check out the series of illustrations below!

No one anticipated the iPhone’s meteoric rise when it was first introduced in 2007. Critics complained that, unlike the BlackBerry, the touchscreen phone was too hard to type on. It was too expensive. And it had to be on the AT&T network. Little did those critics know that, five years later, the rectangle with rounded corners would own the smartphone market.

The device’s wild popularity has, unfortunately, grown so much that iPhone and iPad thefts rose 40% in New York City. Thieves love the Apple smartphone so much that they’ll even snatch them from babies. This stat got us thinking about Steve Jobs’s masterpiece and what makes it so special. So, as you clutch your device to keep it out of harm’s way, read these five totally crazy — but also totally true — facts about the iPhone.

1. The most expensive piece in the iPhone 4 costs $28.50. According to research firm iSuppli, the phone’s Retina display screen is the priciest piece of the iPhone puzzle. Together, the parts total about $200, although that doesn’t take into account assembly, design or branding.

2. 250 million iPhones have been sold to date. If all iPhone sales worldwide were concentrated in the U.S., it would be equal to nearly 80% of the entire population.

3. Nine rare-earth minerals are used to make the iPhone. Many of those minerals are concentrated in one place, and 90% of the elements are mined in China. These pieces make the iPhone vibrate, play music, show color on its screen and do all the cool things we love it for.

4. The iPhone’s computer chip is manufactured by Apple’s greatest rival, Samsung. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as close as inside of your bestselling product, we suppose. In case you missed it, Apple filed a huge lawsuit against Samsung in June, claiming that the company violated patent law by using aspects of Apple’s most popular mobile devices in its smartphones. Apple won the case, which might make the collaboration between the two companies to design and manufacture the next mobile processor alittle awkward.

5. It took more than 200 patents and 156 suppliers across three continents to make the iPhone. Everything from the look and feel of the phone to all of its individual parts, to how precisely it’s assembled was patented as intellectual property in early developments of the iPhone. In 2012, Apple released a complete list of its iPhone, iPod and iPad suppliers, revealing the intricacies of assembling the products.

Around 7 a.m. Pacific time today, Apigy Inc., the company behind the Lockitron, announced on its Web page that it was accepting pre-orders for a new version its keyless lock, which lets you unlock your door with your smartphone.

Twelve hours later, the product-in-progress had received double its initial goal of $150,000.

So what’s so special about Lockitron? For one, it’s part of the growing trend of keyless entry to both cars and homes, as the New York Times wrote about here last year. For home owners that deal with a lot of foot traffic — dog walkers, nannies or tenants — it can be more convenient than carrying and sharing multiple sets of keys.

The new Lockitron will also with with Bluetooth 4.0, in addition to Wi-Fi and NFC (near field communication) technology, presenting a broader range of options for smartphone consumers. So, if you’re using an iPhone 5, you can activate Bluetooth as you’re nearing your door and communicate with Lockitron that way — no WiFi or data connection needed. If you have an NFC-equipped Android handset, you can swipe your phone against the lock and open it that way.

Lockitron’s updated mobile app also sends a combination of text messages, push notifications and emails to let you know when the UPS delivery guy might have knocked on your door, whether the dog walker arrived on time and exactly when the kids got home from school.

While some consumers might like the additional levels of security offered through systems like this, others might cringe at the idea of an obvious electronic box hanging on their front doors. So Lockitron has designed a box that now fits over the lock on the inside of the door, but can still communicate with your smartphone or cellphone.

Apigy says the new Lockitron is expected to ship in March, and in an interview with AllThingsD, founder Paul Gerhardt stressed that customers who pre-ordered the product won’t be charged for it until it’s actually ready.

The iPhone 5 is out, but it’ll cost you. The iPhone 4 is free with a contract, but that’s so 2010. What if you could spend $99 and turn your old iPod touch into a new iPhone? With no contract to enslave you to the telecom companies? Well, there is.

Meet the FreedomPop. The $99 iPhone sleeve case turns your iPod Touch (generation 4) into an iPhone with all the connection speed of the latest model plus 1GB of free data every month, enough for basic email and iMessage texting. And all for less than $100, without a contractual commitment.

FreedomPop does this by using a 4G LTE hotspot built right into the case, allowing the iPod to access the Net at high speed over Wi-Fi. Be your own hotspot, says the maker of FreedomPop.

You see, these headphone jack plugs are designed to look like tiny Luchadors. Just snap them into your empty headphone jack, and a tiny wrestler will protect your phone from all who dare to take him on. While the’ll look pretty cool on most phones, the wrestler will look like he’s doing a headstand in my iPhone 5′s oddly-placed new headphone jack.

You can choose from five colored masks, including red, pink, yellow, blue and black. The Luchador headphone jack plugs sell for ¥630 (~$8 USD) over at Strapya World.

For some reason, in Japan it’s become a popular pastime to stick odd little doo-dads into the empty headphone jack on smartphones and media players. While the utility of these things is somewhat questionable, there’s no argument that they’re fun little embellishments for your gadgets. But up until now, most of them have been too cutesy for my taste. That has now changed.

Food allergies make eating out difficult, but Find Me Gluten Free helps those with Celiac disease or diet restrictions to grab a bite close by.This app takes away the stress of finding restaurants and hosts reviews and recommendations from Celiac Diva.

Ever walked out of a mall or the airport with zero recollection of your parking spot? Find My Car offers assistance.Some reviews complained about the accuracy, but others gushed about the usefulness of the app. The only way to know for sure it is to try it out.

The spoofmasters from JLE are back with a fresh ‘banned iPhone 5′ parody for you to check out. These guys have been putting them out since the iPhone 4, likely in an effort to promote their advertising business.

And, as usual, they kill it with their hilarious deadpan reproduction of the iPhone 5 promo video. The best news? My favorite Head of Cameras, Rob Mansfield makes an appearance, despite his having been moved to special products by Apple’s CEO.

Seriously, I look forward to these things as much as Apple’s videos every year.

Apple’s next iPhone is official, and despite being the sixth iPhone model (technically), we know it’s officially the iPhone 5.

Over the last year, we’ve heard a ton of rumors about what it might deliver with LTE, a taller display, and a redesigned connector being the most likely tidbits. Fortunately, we now can put all that speculation to rest as Apple spilled the secrets.

Taller, thinner, and a metal back

As expected, the new iPhone is 18 percent thinner (0.30 inch vs. 0.37 inch thick) than the iPhone 4S. Apple says it’s the thinnest handset around, but that’s a race that changes often. That means it’s also 20 percent lighter for a total of 3.95 ounces. The Retina Display expands from 3.5 inches (its size since the original iPhone) to 4 inches. The total resolution remains the same, though, at 326 pixels per inch. The total pixel count is 1,136×640, and we now have a 16:9 aspect ratio.

To the user, that means a fifth row of icons on the home screen. That’s pretty nice since it will let you cut down on the number of home screens. You’ll also get a full five-day week view in the calendar, the calendar will show more events, and all iWork apps will take advantage of the bigger display. Third-party apps that haven’t been updated will continue to work, but you’ll see black borders on each side (so they won’t be stretched or scaled). Apple also promises that wide-screen movies will look better, with 44 percent more color saturation than on the iPhone 4S.

Apple’s new iPhone 5.

Touch sensors are now built into the display itself, which makes it 30 percent thinner as a result and less prone to glare.

The iPhone 5 also fixes a design flaw that we first saw in the iPhone 4. Apple replaced the glass back with one that’s mostly metal. Too many people (us included) cracked an iPhone 4 or 4Safter dropping it accidentally. We don’t think the change negatively affects the iPhone’s aesthetics. In fact, many might see it as an improvement. A return to a metal back reminds one of the original iPhone, and the crisp, clean-cut back has a bit of the feel of other Apple devices like the iPad.

All of the design changes result in a new iPhone that’s surprisingly light to hold. Think 20 percent lighter isn’t a big deal? Pick one of these up and you’ll feel the difference: the iPhone 4 may have been dense, but the iPhone 5 is a featherweight.

The screen is big, bright, and crisp, too, not shockingly so, but a subtly improved experience. It’s akin to being the extrawide comfy chair of iPhone screens. Stay tuned for more, but this new iPhone has a good hand feel.

The taller iPhone 5 (right) compared with the iPhone 4.

LTE and carriers
Not a shocker either, but the iPhone 5 will support 4G LTE networks. That’s in addition to the current support for GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, and HSPA data networks. LTE has a single chip for voice and data, a single radio chip, and a “dynamic antenna” that will switch connections between different networks automatically.

So which carriers will support an LTE iPhone 5? Well, in the United States that means AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless. So again, T-Mobile loses out. In Canada it’s Bell, Telus, Fido, Virgin, and Kudo. In Asia the providers will be SoftBank, SmarTone, SingTel, and SK Telecom. For Australia there’s Telstra, Optus, and Virgin Mobile, and in Europe it will go to Deutsche Telekom and EE. On carriers without LTE, the iPhone 5 will run on dual-band 3.5G HDPA+.

This profile offers another view of the size difference.

A faster chip
The iPhone 5 will offer an A6 chip, which is two times faster than the current A5 chip. Graphics will get faster speeds, as well. Yet, despite the speedier performance, the new chip will be 22 percent smaller than the A5. According to Apple’s specs, users will see Web pages load 2.1 times faster, and the Music app with songs will load 1.9 times faster.

More battery life
LTE tends to be a power hog, but the iPhone 5 is set to deliver respectable battery life. Of course, the real story may differ, but here’s what Apple is promising for now. We’re supposed to get 8 hours of 3G talk time, 8 hours of 3G browsing, 8 hours of LTE browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hours of video playback, 40 hours of music playback, and 225 hours of standby time. You can be sure that CNET will put these promises to the test when we get a device in our hands.

Apple promises respectable battery life, though the iPhone 5 has a larger display and LTE.

Camera

The main shooter, or the “iSight” camera, stays at 8 megapixels (with the best resolution being 3,264×2,448 pixels) with a feature list that includes backside illumination, a hybrid IR filter, a five-element lens, and a f2.4 aperture. A dynamic light mode is new, and you should be able to launch photography apps up to 2.1 times faster. Another addition is an image signal processor in the A6 chip. That will bring spatial noise reduction and a “smart filter” that produces better low-light performance and captures photos faster. Finally, there’s a built-in panorama mode that stitches shots together for one large 28-megapixel photo.

The secondary front camera now can shoot 720p HD video and it gets a backside illuminated sensor. And as we heard at the announcement of iOS 6 back in June, FaceTime will work over 3G cellular networks. Some carriers like AT&T have already announced restrictions for that feature, so be sure to check with your provider first.

Video resolution remains at 1080p HD, though image stabilization has been improved and face detection is now available in clips for up to 10 people. And in a nice move, you can take photos while you’re shooting video.

Audio
The iPhone 5 gets an additional microphone for a total of three. You’ll find one on the bottom, one on the handset’s front face, and one on its rear side. What’s more, the speaker now has five magnets (so up from two), which is apparently better and it’s supposed to use 20 percent less space. The noise-canceling feature should be improved, as well, and there’s a new wideband audio feature that promises more-natural-sounding voices. Twenty percent of carriers will support wideband audio, but so far we only know that Orange in the United Kingdom will be among them.

Smaller dock connector, smaller SIM card
On the bottom of the iPhone 5, there’s that new and long-anticipated smaller dock connector. Called “Lightning,” it has an all-digital, eight-signal design and an “adaptive interface” (we’re not quite sure what that means yet). It’s 80 percent smaller, and since it’s reversible, both ends will be the same (that’s kind of nice).

Apple says the iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone around. We’ll see how long that record lasts.

By all means, it’s bound to annoy owners of current speaker docks, accessories, and charger/syncing cables since it will render them obsolete. Apple will offer an adapter and adapter cables (of course it will), which range from $19 to $39. We imagine, though, that the adapter may be awkward to use with some current accessories like a bedside alarm clock/music player. For new accessories, Apple says that manufacturers like Bose, JBL, and Bowers are working on new products.

Though we welcome the idea of a smaller connector, we’re miffed that Apple couldn’t just adopt the semi-industry standard of Micro-USB. That would make things easier for smartphone users across the globe. Yet, even so, the smaller connector may be a smart move for the future. The 30-pin connector has been around since 2003, long before the iPhone even existed: frankly, it’s a dust magnet. A smaller connector helps shave extra space to achieve a smaller phone with perhaps a bigger battery. The new connector cable will mainly be used for syncing and charging by most people who own an Apple TV or Bluetooth/AirPlay accessories.

The smaller dock and cable connector is in the usual place on the phone’s bottom.

iOS 6
Inside, the iPhone 5 will debut with iOS 6 already onboard. Highlights include the new Apple Maps app, Passbook, shared photo streams, Siri updates, and the aforementioned FaceTime over 3G. For more on Apple’s newest mobile OS update, check out our iOS 6 First Take. iOS 6 will be available for download next Wednesday, September 19.

Release date and pricing
The iPhone 5 will be available in three capacity models, all of which will come in black and white versions. The 16GB is $199, the 32GB $299, and the 64GB $399. On September 21, it will go on sale in nine countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Anyone in that first batch of countries can preorder starting September 14. More countries will follow by the end of this month, and by the end of the year, the iPhone 5 will land at 240 carriers in 100 countries. As a reminder, the U.S. carriers are the Big Three: Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.

Is this the iPhone you’ve been looking for?
During very brief hands-on time with the iPhone 5, this much is clear: it’s the weight you’ll remember more than its thinner profile. The iPhone 4S is already a svelte device: most people probably won’t spot the difference if they see the new iPhone from the side.

The screen size, also, is more of a subtle improvement. This isn’t a jaw-dropping leap from the iPhone 4S: it’s a gradual increase, done almost so cleverly that the front face of the iPhone 5 might, with the screen turned off, look very much like the iPhone 4S. The proof will be in the pudding for how app developers and iOS 6 take full advantage of that extra screen real estate, but the bottom line is this: more screen size and more pixels are good things.

The real killer app on this phone — no surprise — might be the iPhone’s 4G LTE, as well as the promised battery life. If data speeds and battery life can live up to the promises, those alone will make many want to upgrade.

The iPhone 5 was introduced earlier today and with it came the news that it would support the super-fast 4G LTE network standard. This means that you’ll get blazing fast internet on the new device right out of the box.

But that’s not the amazing thing. That’s reserved for the battery life numbers that Apple delivered with LTE. The blazing fast speeds of LTE have long impressed users of smartphones like those from Motorola and Samsung, but one big issue has held back its growth: crap battery life.

This image, via The Verge, is the most incredible one of the event for those of us who follow LTE technology and battery life:

That’s pretty good. Apple managed to upgrade the iPhone 5 to LTE and keep the battery life identical to the 3G iPhone 4S.

Apple doesn’t give the specs of its new battery beyond hours promised and blacks out the specs in its promo images, but leaks pegged it as a a 3.8V 5.4WHr battery with a 1440 mAh capacity. That’s a 2.8% increase in capacity over the iPhone 4S and it’s likely helped along by what is likely a new lower-power 28nm Qualcomm MDM9615 LTE chip.

But the real kicker? Apple managed to do all of that and still make the iPhone 5 7.6 mm thick, which is 18% thinner than the iPhone 4S and 20% lighter at 112 grams

To give you an idea how good this is, the brand new Droid RAZR M, which is a bit thicker than the iPhone 5, still only manages just under 7 hours on LTE. That’s decent, but not nearly as impressive as the thinner iPhone 5 (if it delivers on Apple’s promises).

Note that Motorola’s recently announced RAZR MAXX HD has far better battery life on LTE, but it’s also way thicker and heavier.

This was likely helped along by Apple’s new in-cell touchscreen, which laminates the touch sensor, the glass and the LCD all together for a thinner profile. that left more room for the battery and other components, while still making it nice and thin.

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I have always been a tech enthusiast, to the point where i have become an addict. Tech to me is crack; Always trying to get my fix every chance i get ! I have always loved sharing anything that fascinates me which again most of the time is about tech related content. I used to share content on Google Reader Shared pages (google.com/reader/shared/surdie) but after their not so brilliant idea to shut it down i felt i needed a new platform where i could share and distribute content and thats how Nlyten.com came about. So keep reading and get Nlyten ed !